Category: Star Rating

The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau, Graeme Macrae Burnet

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Graeme Macrae Burnet came to my attention through the Booker Prize: I loved his His Bloody Project novel with its multiple voices and setting, evocatively recreating the brutality of life in Scottish crofting communities. It was on the strength of that that I picked up this, the first of his Detective Gorski novels and -… Continue reading The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau, Graeme Macrae Burnet

The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell

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There are times when I love my job. Some. On rare occasions. One of those times came today when I spotted a copy of The Sleeper and the Spindle on the side in the library and I was asked to have a read of it over night and see whether I thought it was suitable.… Continue reading The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell

The Muse, Jessie Burton

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I adored The Miniaturist! It was one of those books which had stayed with me: the cold of her repressed Amsterdam, the sweetness of marzipan, the claustrophobic house. The hint of the supernatural. The difficult, prickly bond between the women. So it was with pleasure and anticipation that I began The Muse and it took… Continue reading The Muse, Jessie Burton

The Betrayal of Trust and A Question of Identity, Susan Hill

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Ahhhh Lafferton. Possibly even more dangerous than Midsomer or a dinner party with Jessica Fletcher and Jane Marple! The serial killer centre of England. I've lost track of the numbers of serial killers in the Simon Serrailler series: they've targetted women for medical reasons, abducted young children; they've targetted weddings and, now, the elderly in… Continue reading The Betrayal of Trust and A Question of Identity, Susan Hill

The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz

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Sometimes you want to like a book just so damn much that it feels like you're the failure when you end up not liking it. So it was for me with this novel. Now there is no doubt that Horowitz can plot a cracking crime story: Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War, Magpie Murders are all testimony… Continue reading The Word Is Murder, Anthony Horowitz

Within the Sanctuary of Wings, Marie Brennan

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Sometimes we just need the familiar and the comfortable, don't we? A warm cuddle of a book. The Natural History of Dragons series by Marie Brennan, of which Within the Sanctuary of Wings is the fifth and, it would appear final, installment, is one of those series. It's not challenging; it's a tad formulaic by… Continue reading Within the Sanctuary of Wings, Marie Brennan

See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt

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Lizzie Borden took an axeAnd gave her mother forty whacks.When she saw what she had done,She gave her father forty-one. Oh, Sarah Schmidt can write! What a strange strange thing to start a review with! But there is writing and there is writing and Sarah Schmidt can write! Not only can she create a plot and move… Continue reading See What I Have Done, Sarah Schmidt

The Black Book of Secrets, F. E. Higgins

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Every year, I determine to teach at least one text which is new to me that year - which with a shrinking pool to choose from at GCSE becomes harder year-one-year - and that is why I have stumbled upon F. E. Higgins' The Black Book of Secrets. It is an odd little book -… Continue reading The Black Book of Secrets, F. E. Higgins

The Bear and the Nightingale and Girl in the Tower, Katherine Arden

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  I feel terribly guilty reviewing these books two at a time. They are too good to be treated like this! They are a delicious treat and parcelling them up together simply for convenience and to save time feels wrong. But, I'm still doing it. These novels are two parts of a mythic fairytale set… Continue reading The Bear and the Nightingale and Girl in the Tower, Katherine Arden

A Skinful Of Shadows, Frances Hardinge

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Cards on the table. I adore Frances Hardinge. She can, in my humble eyes, do no wrong. I would buy a telephone directory with her name attached to it as an author! Her Cuckoo Song was a masterpiece. The sort of novel which I wish I had more than my self-imposed five stars to give… Continue reading A Skinful Of Shadows, Frances Hardinge

The Dry, Jane Harper

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This book had won a range of prizes by the time I got to reading it: Australia Indie Book and Indie Debut of the Year 2017; Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year; CWA Gold Dagger. It even became the Radio 2 Book Club Choice. I think I read somewhere that film rights have been… Continue reading The Dry, Jane Harper

The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley

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There is something very frustrating about this book. It was so close to being great that the fact that it wasn't great is so disappointing. The premise sounded brilliant: members of a religious community go on a retreat to an isolated location; suspicious and sinister villagers mill around; a young boy is being prayed for… Continue reading The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley

The Heart’s Invisible Furies, John Boyne

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  Some books you can knock out a review in a moment or two after reading them. Others take time to digest and consider and reflect on. And this beautiful, heart-aching, visceral, funny, tragic novel is one of the latter. But as yesterday was the International Day Against Homophobia Biphobia Intersexism and Transphobia  - should… Continue reading The Heart’s Invisible Furies, John Boyne

Oathbringer, Brandon Sanderson

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I was concerned about the shift in tone from the end of the second book in The Stormlight Archive, Words of Radiance: Kaladin and Shallan had been lost characters slowly discovering their powers and paths in their own way, interracting with their spren and learning in a softly organic way; as Words of Radiance ends, Knights… Continue reading Oathbringer, Brandon Sanderson

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, Imogen Hermes Gowar

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I do love historical fiction and this is one of the best I've read for a while! Intricately plotted, rigourously researched and with vivid and well-drawn characters. And none of those elements displaced by any other. And with just a touch of magical realism thrown in. It doesn't quite reach the heights of Hilary Mantel… Continue reading The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, Imogen Hermes Gowar

The Keeper Of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan

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My daughter is four. She loves Talking Tom games and You Tube episodes. I was more invested in the relationship between Tom and Angela on those cartoons than I was in the relationships between Laura and Freddy, or the post-death relationship between Anthony and Therése or between Eunice and Bomber. It is a nice enough… Continue reading The Keeper Of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan

Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor

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This is one of the most unusual and beautiful books I've read for a while. Hard to define. Difficult to keep track of people. But beautiful and lyrical. Radio 4 do a slot of "slow radio" sometimes and this book reminds me of that. And of my childhood. And of a familiarity with the country… Continue reading Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor

Broken Harbour, Tana French

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Recipe for a Tana French Dublin Murder Squad novel: Take an atmospheric and intense setting, such as the last remnant of an ancient forest, a secluded mansion or a half completed housing project abutting the sea; insert a handful of characters with intense and golden relationships; raise the pressure and temperature; remove from the oven when those relationships… Continue reading Broken Harbour, Tana French

Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

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Sometimes, you read a short story that leaves you wanting more and makes you wish that the writer had extended it to a novel length. With this novel, well written and crafted as it is, I wonder whether it could have been reduced to a short story. Or began life as a short story or… Continue reading Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

The Shadows In The Street, Susan Hill

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Okay. Please put Lafferton and Bevham in the list of places I don't want to visit because of their high body count. Midsomer, Stockholm, Lafferton.  Poor Lafferton. I think this, the fifth book in Susan Hill's Simon Serrailer series, has the third serial killer in the Cathedral city since the first book. I don't think… Continue reading The Shadows In The Street, Susan Hill

A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman

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We all know that old bloke on the corner who glowers at us, the one with a face like a bulldog sucking lemons, the one who barks at us for dropping litter or parking in the wrong place. The one who we suspect goes around the house grumbling about the radiators being on. Hell, I fear… Continue reading A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman

Origin, Dan Brown

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Oh dear. Oh, poor Dan Brown. Poor, incredibly rich and famous Dan Brown. It seems that you have become a parody of yourself. But, as an aspiring writer, I thank you. I can look at my writing and yours and think.... "If Dan Brown can get that published, I must have a decent chance!" Let's… Continue reading Origin, Dan Brown

The Humans, Matt Haig

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There's nothing new or original in this novel. Touches of Doctor Who, perhaps. Touches of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime. Touches, indeed, of Eleanor Oliphant Is Perfectly Fine. An outsider struggles to fit into humam society and ultimately fights to understand what it is to be human. Wrap that up with… Continue reading The Humans, Matt Haig

Eleanor Oliphant Is Perfectly Fine, Gail Honeyman

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Mental health is a difficult topic to write about. A dangerous topic. It would be very easy for it to trivialise - or even worse, to glamourise - mental illness or trauma.  And there were times here where is was a little concerned that the novel may be going down that route - the love… Continue reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Perfectly Fine, Gail Honeyman

Railhead, Philip Reeve

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  This is a delightfully fun and engaging tale with all the confidence you'd expect of Phillip Reeve, returning to the steampunk genre, if in a very different world, of Mortal Engines. Here, rather than walking cities, we have sentient trains and K-gates - wormholes or portals, taking trains and their passengers instantly to different worlds and different… Continue reading Railhead, Philip Reeve